Infantino in a new controversy: he allegedly turned to a Trump adviser to secure a work permit for his housekeeper
The FIFA president is accused of using his political connections to fix the immigration status of a Nicaraguan worker who allegedly kept working in the United States without authorization.
Gianni Infantino is at the center of controversy again. According to the New York Post and The Telegraph, the FIFA president allegedly turned to an adviser linked to Donald Trump's administration to secure a work permit for his housekeeper after US authorities revoked her immigration authorization.
The woman, originally from Nicaragua, allegedly worked at Infantino's Miami residence from 2024, although she was on the payroll of FIFA (Americas), the governing body's US division.
According to leaked documents and accounts published on November 3, the worker allegedly stayed employed for more than four months after losing her work authorization in June 2025.
A contact close to the Trump administration
The key figure is said to be Carlos Cordeiro, former president of the US Soccer Federation, a former adviser to Infantino at FIFA and Trump's May 2025 appointee as adviser to the White House task force for the 2026 World Cup. Cordeiro recently left FIFA.
According to the allegations, Infantino asked him to use his government contacts to help obtain a new work permit. The reports also say a different address was listed on the immigration filings, when the worker actually lived in Infantino's luxury building in Miami.
The authorization was finally granted in January 2026 under category C11, even though the US government had scrapped during 2025 the humanitarian parole program that covered citizens of Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela.
FIFA rejects the allegations
In response, FIFA firmly rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing, denied employing workers without proper authorization and said Infantino personally covers the costs of his domestic staff. The organization also criticized the release of its employees' private information.
So far there is no public finding that the permit was improperly issued or that Infantino or Cordeiro broke the law. Nor has it been shown that Donald Trump intervened personally.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for Infantino, who faces growing scrutiny ahead of FIFA's presidential election in March 2027. And it leaves a question on the table: were political connections used to obtain an immigration benefit that others would hardly have received?
Sources: New York Post (vía Yahoo) · The Telegraph (vía Yahoo) · Geo TV
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